Can I edit content from an imported page/site?

  • Unknown's avatar
    michaelarce3 · Member ·

    Hi guys,

    I have a customer who had a website built out for them by another developer. The client would now like the site to be editable by his team, and has asked that I help export it to WordPress.

    If I have the codebase for the former site and imported it, would I be able to edit it with any of the theme builders? or would I be stuck editing php files still?

    Please help. Thank you so much.

    M.

    WP.com: Unknown
    Jetpack: Unknown
    Correct account: Unknown

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to moderators and staff)

  • Unknown's avatar
    helper-heroponriki · Member ·

    Hi there!

    Was the site created in WordPress or another content management system (CMS)? Or, was it custom code?

    If it was created in a CMS, let us know which one and we can better advise on how to import.

    If it was custom code, you would need to recreate the site in WordPress. Note that if you host the site with us here at WordPress.com, you would need a Pro plan in order to have access to the site files and CSS editor.

    Or, if you’re looking to use the WordPress software, but on your own hosting provider, you can reach out to the WordPress community for guidance on how to best convert the current site:

    https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting

    I hope that helps!

  • Unknown's avatar
    michaelarce3 · Member ·

    Is there a way to find out what CMS it was made in? Maybe a file that may have some information?

  • Unknown's avatar
    helper-heroponriki · Member ·

    You can use a site like What CMS to see if the site in question was made with a CMS.

  • Unknown's avatar
    michaelarce3 · Member ·

    Says the CMS is Laravel. Would that work?

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    Okay, Laravel isn’t a CMS, but rather a PHP framework that allows developers to build a website without having to code everything from scratch.

    For our purposes that means you essentially have a static, hard-coded website, and there’s unlikely to be any option to export your content in a format that’s compatible with the importer we have on WordPress.com.

    So to migrate that site to a WordPress site, you’ll need to manually copy-paste the text content into new posts and pages on a new WordPress site. (Copying the HTML content might work – the block editor might not be able to correctly convert everything to the correct block markup, so copying text only and reformatting in the WordPress editor is likely safer.)

    If I have the codebase for the former site and imported it, would I be able to edit it with any of the theme builders? or would I be stuck editing php files still?

    You won’t be able to bring across the site’s design, but if you use a block theme you can recreate the site’s current look in the site editor using blocks, or if you prefer, you can create your own custom WordPress theme from scratch in PHP. Using a custom theme on WordPress.com specifically requires our Pro plan.

    But once the theme is created, you should never need to touch PHP unless you’re updating/modifying the theme. WordPress is designed so that site owners/content creators can manage content on the site with zero coding knowledge. You type into the post/page editor like you would in a word processor, with many of the same formatting options, and the added benefit of blocks allowing you to create custom layouts, change styling and formatting, etc, all without ever having to write any code.

    With the recently-introduced site editor you can customize a site’s theme in the same way, using blocks, but then you’ll need to use a theme specifically designed to be compatible with the site editor. Here on WordPress.com, that includes all our themes under the Recommended tab at Appearance ->Themes.

    That’s quite a bit of information, so please let me know if you have any further questions :)

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